T

he Jakarta Police said that a terrorist attack could possibly happen in the city on Friday, coinciding with the National Police’s anniversary.

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said he had instructed all Jakarta personnel to step up their vigilance regarding a heightened possibility of a terrorist attack on July 1.

He said that now that terrorists were directing their attacks on the police, it was possible that an attack could come when the National Police celebrate their 65th anniversary.

“Bombs and terrorism will still be with us, and recently the terrorists have directly targeted the National Police and members of the police force. We have to stay alert,” Sutarman told reporters after officiating the promotion of 2,165 personnel on Thursday.

Jakarta Police were on high alert in June after suspected terrorists reportedly confessed that they wanted to poison food and drinks served to police officers.

The police said that terrorists might adopt poison as a means of attack, as it was harder to detect than gunpowder or explosives.

Following the tip-off of the allegations, police station cafeteria operators have been instructed to monitor their food stocks and to keep close watch on new patrons.

Police had also warned of possible terrorist attacks ahead of hearings in the trial of convicted terrorist and firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Ba’asyir.

Days before Ba’asyir’s verdict was issued, police received threats that bombings were planned for 36 locations in the country.

A threatening message had said that bombs were expected to detonate simultaneous with the judges delivering their verdict to Ba’asyir.

The threats went unfulfilled and the verdict was delivered without an attack.

Violence directed at the police has been increasing, according to the Indonesia Police Watch (IPW).

Two police officers were killed and one was injured on May 25 in a drive-by shooting in Poso, Central Sulawesi, the site of sectarian conflict in the late 1990s.

The police had said the terrorists shot the police officers in Palu in an effort to steal the officers’ firearms so they could be used in armed robberies, which are one of the primary ways terrorists get money to fund their activities.

In early June, Second. Insp. Sugiantoro was shot dead when he and five of his colleagues from the Bekasi Police inspected what they believed to be a suspicious-looking Toyota Avanza that was parked in front of a shop.

In April, a member of a terrorist group carried out a suicide bombing inside the mosque of a police compound in Cirebon, West Java, injuring a police officer.

The National Police counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88, said that the terrorist attacks were initially targeted at police and military compounds.

Separately, head of the Jakarta Police operational division, Sr. Comr. Sujarno, said the Jakarta Police would reinforce security at police compounds during the celebration of the National Police’s 65th anniversary.

“We have not let our guard down for quite some time now,” Sujarno said.